I loved attending the shows and I found myself mesmerized by the  Persian breed. It had completely morphed from the Persians I knew as a child, to a completely different looking cat. Persians  now had a flat pug like appearance that I fell in love with immediately. They still had the lovely long coats that I had always admired  and it was not long before I wanted to own one of my own.  When I ventured to buy a kitten, the breeder knew I was  very serious about cats and instead, she offered me my first whole female. She said she would mentor me in the world of  breeding cats. And so it all started.

 Ten years later I sit here creating my webpage. I am still intensely interested in this breed  and hope to always be moving in a forward direction in my breeding program. I have had ten wonderful years of learning, and showing this  most beautiful of all breeds. My aim is to breed healthy, sweet tempered, balanced Persians for the show ring. I believe in quality and not quantity. Of course, in breeding for the perfect Persian, one faces many challenges. My  experience has taught me  much about patience. I believe in "Creating and not copying."

I aim to put together strong genetic bloodlines in order to improve and enhance the breed. I have had help along the way. I have had   people n the Cat fancy offer me advice and much input as to what to look for in a  beautifully balanced Persian. Along with a great deal of Good luck, I have also met  several important people who have helped me along the way. Without their help and guidance I would never have come this far in the Persian journey. Thanks goes to firstly Kim Beaton. She showed me  what to do from the start. She showed me all aspects of Persian breeding  and  husbandry. She sold me my first breeding animal and taught me all about breeding and grooming. I owe her a great debt of thanks. Secondly, I must thank Marianne Morrison of Whose Persians. She befriended me at the TICA annual in Las Vegas in the year 2000. After our meeting she kindly gave me, over time, four beautiful Persians. These cats are long since retired to good homes but they leave behind a beautiful legacy  for the kittens being produced here today. I miss the long phone conversations I shared with this friend from Arkansas. 

Over the years, I have set off on my own journey. I work independently in that I do not offer stud service, nor do I  swap my cats with other breeders.  I chose to do things this way for  the protection of the cats. I have produced many beautiful and varied Persians over the years and I have also been lucky enough to  produce both International winning cats and Regional winners as well. While I  have worked with the silver Persians first off, I soon moved on to the solid Persians. I was extremely lucky to  come across a gorgeous black male Persian who started everything for me. He was named, Budmar's By Request. I called him Questy for short. Not knowing what I  had in this cat I proceeded to go and show him to an International Win in 7 shows. This boy really showed me the ropes and happily he left behind him a  spectacular white male kitten whom I aptly named Piggly Wiggly . Please see his page to see why I named him this Ear catching name. I knew he was special and so I named him so that people might remember his name. My love affair with solids began. I also began to learn first hand about the beauty of the white Persian- a thing not matched. White Persians however, often reveal surprises !!! It was out of a white Persian that my first bicolor Persian arrived.  White masks many things and so a bicolor program was born here. Chinookwinds Salsa was my first bicolor girl and She was too beautiful to part with even if she was a bicolor. She is still here today as a testament to her ability to produce beautiful kittens. To this  bicolor equation was added two odd eyed whites.  These  combinations have allowed me to have a great variety of colors and also a great variety of eye colour as well. The only combination I have yet to see  here at Chinookwinds is the odd eyed bicolor. But I am sure it is just a matter of time before that will also pop up for I  have all the ingredients it would seem.

While mainly breeding solid Persians, we do have  bi-colors ( a colour and white ),  and parti-colours  ( Both dilute and dominant torties )

Our foundation male is a solid white Persian whose name is Piggly Wiggly.  Please visit him  and our other male, Steeplechase Baretta, at their very own page, found under the "Males" category above.

We currently have 7 females in our cattery with the addition of our newest kitten Chinookwinds Bugaboo! She has her daddys face and she is perhaps  the most striking resemblance of him to date. I also have three proven girls and three new showgirls!  Bugaboo is only a wee baby but watch for her in a show hall near you! Pictures and information on each are available under the "Females" tab.

Our kittens our bred to further improve the breed with temperament and health  being paramount in our program.  We will be having a number of litters in the next couple of months,  for Spring in in the air! We are always breeding for the perfect show kitty but oftentimes we have more than we need. Please see our available or For Sale page if you are interested in adding a Persian to your family.  Please contact me via e-mail or phone if you have any queries about Persians.  If you are interested in  showing a Persian, please don't hesitate to inquire about our show quality kittens.

Cats have been in my life always and over the last  ten years I have now added two more cat lovers to the family. My children have embraced the cats and kittens and they help extensively in the socializing of our litters. Both of my Kitten whisperers are an invaluable addition to my life and  to the cats lives! I would be remiss if I didn't mention my husband who has learned all skills needed to raise cats over the years. Without his support ( especially when I am away at shows ) Chinookwinds would cease to exist.

Our success in the show rings has been excellent. I show in TICA mostly but I have also taken in a few CFA shows as well. I love both associations for different reasons. All kittens raised her are registered in both associations and therefore may be shown in both.  Please see our awards and titles page for more details!

If you want to contact Melony to inquire about cats or kittens or to simply ask a question, please email her at melonyoneill@shaw.ca.

Yours in Cats and kittens,

Melony, Shawn, Madeline and Fynn O'Neill